Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis are the stars of Burke & Hare, which unites the actors under the direction of John Landis. Based on the real-life exploits of Irish murderers William Burke and William Hare, who killed at least 17 people in Edinburgh in 1827-8, the film may not hew too closely to the tone and severity of actual events. It is being described at least partially as a comedy. Then again, Landis made some of American Werewolf in London quite funny without sacrificing the horrific tone. It’s been a long time since that film; can he make that recipe work again? Read More »

Simon Pegg has Tweeted a link to the extended cast list for John Landis‘ Burke and Hare on IMDB. He indicated just one mistake on the roster – John Cleese will not be appearing – but called the rest of it “pretty spot on”. Not only does this mean that Spaced’s Tim and Daisy, Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes, will be reunited, but also that several other alumni of their sitcom will be cropping up, namely Michael Smiley, Bill Bailey and Reece Shearsmith. And then, not noted by Pegg in particular, there are also roles for some of my faves: Hugh Bonneville, John Woodvine and Ronnie Corbett. Superbness.

I’d previously wondered if Margaret Laird would be given space in the film’s narrative, and so far she’s not shown up on the list. Pegg does promise more surprises, however…

UPDATE: And now I’ve received an official press release to announce the start of production which lists both Tim Curry and Christopher Lee as being amongst the cast. it just keeps getting better and better.

One small mystery was put to rest as Paul Davis’ cameo was revealed to be as a patient, presumably of Dr. Knox.

Incidentally, the image at the top of the post shows the death masks of the real Burke and Hare.

UPDATE: The Simon Pegg tweet from which the Andy Serkis info was ‘sourced’ has been deleted. Was this a case of announcing too soon and/or without authorization, or is something else in the works? Mark this one as ‘uncertain’ for now. Original article follows.

Sad news if you were looking forward to seeign Dr. Who‘s David Tennant work opposite Simon Pegg in Burke & Hare, the upcoming horror comedy from John Landis. Tennant has been forced to drop out, leaving a core cast of Pegg, Bill Nighy and John Cleese. But all is not bleak, as Tennant has been replaced by Andy Serkis.

The news comes direct from Simon Pegg, who said “David Tennant had to drop out of B&H but by sheer glorious serendipity a legend of Middle Earth and Skull Island has come aboard. Welcome AS.” Good enough for me. I’d love to see Tenant do more feature work, but I’ll take Serkis in a pinch. As we’ve reported before, Burke and Hare were itinerant Irish immigrant murderers who sold corpses of their victims to a medical college in Scotland. Very much looking forward to seeing Landis return with this one. [Pegg’s Twitter, via CHUD]

After the break, news on two projects that couldn’t be more different. Read More »

The world premiere unveiling of a freshly remastered digital print of John Landis‘ An American Werewolf in London was arguably the highlight of the Film 4 Frightfest last weekend. To accompany this, the festival also premiered Paul Davis‘ long awaited, self initiated American Werewolf retrospective documentary, Beware the Moon. Settling in for this double bill was like watching the new Werewolf Blu-Ray in the best possible circumstances: on a huge screen, wonderfully projected and in the company of over a thousand ardent horror fans.

John Landis is reportedly on the verge of production on a Burke & Hare film, with Simon Pegg on board to star. Burke and Hare, for those not in the know, were a pair of Irish immigrant murderers in early 19th century Edinburgh who sold on the corpses of their victims to the local medical college.